Hey guys, I'm really really sorry about the lack of updates lately but I've been stuck in kind of creativity rut lately (Which is why this chapter may not be very good but hopefully it'll work to snap me out of it). Thanks so much for all of your reviews, I really appreciate them all and they really keep this fic going :)

Movie249: Thanks for pointing that out lol. I'll definitely keep it in mind if I get any more negative reviews :)

Chapter 85

"So…This is it" Ruby said thoughtfully as she stopped outside the airport entrance and glanced around "We're here."

"And it's not raining" Charlie observed slowly "Apparently Summer was exaggerating about the weather here"

Joey shrugged "It's not too bad usually. It can be horrific sometimes though"

"Maybe it's because it's the middle of summer" Charlie pointed out as she stretched slightly to relieve her stiff muscles.

"It still rains in Summer" Joey chuckled lightly "Especially here"

"Can we stop saying that word?" Ruby scowled at them as she leaned against the brick wall behind her.

Joey rolled her eyes at Ruby's unpredictable mood changes "What's wrong?"

"Nothing" Ruby answered with a sigh "I'm sorry. I'm just tired"

"So now what?" Charlie asked though she had turned her gaze suspiciously to her daughter who avoiding the look.

"Now we go and find Cameron!" Joey exclaimed with an optimistic grin.

"You know where she lives?" Charlie questioned, her brow slightly furrowed in confusion "I thought you said we would have to find them first"

Joey shrugged "I know where they used to live so I'm hoping that's where they are now. I don't think they would have moved since the house was left to them by their parents"

"But I thought their parents took off when they were younger?"

"They did" Joey chuckled at Charlie's completely befuddled expression "Summer and Cameron's relationship with their parents is kind of complicated."

"Right" Charlie muttered thoughtfully "This is kind of confusing"

"Yep" Joey agreed as she entwined her fingers lightly with her wife's "Cam and Summer don't like to talk about it too much though, not even to each other" she cast a quick look behind her surprised to see Ruby was still leaning on the wall though she was listening to them with interest "Let's go than…"

"Go where?" Ruby asked sceptically as she fell into step with Joey and Charlie "What are we going to do? Just show up on their doorstep with no warning at all?"

"That's the idea" Joey nodded obliviously.

"How do you even know where they live?" Ruby remarked as she glanced up and down the stretch of road in front of them.

"I've been to England a couple of times" Joey answered casually "It's a long story Rubz"

"Well how are we going to get there?" Charlie spoke up "We don't have a car and I don't feel like walking with these bags" she motioned with her free hand to the bags which were now by their feet.

"Easy!" Joey said brightly "Taxi" she turned when she heard Ruby release a disgruntled sigh behind her "Come on Rubz, Brighten up! It'll be fun…You'll see Summer again?"

"Yeah and probably face rejection again" Ruby muttered much to Charlie's confusion.

"Come on Ruby…!" Joey stated pleadingly "it's going to be fine…Won't it Charlie?"

"Hmm? Oh…Yeah" Charlie nodded vaguely "Just try to relax, Rubz? For us?"

"Fine" Ruby sighed though her posture relaxed significantly and a small smile tugged at her lips "I still haven't forgiven either of you for the stunt you decided to pull on the plane though"

"We already said we're sorry" Charlie said attempting to look remorseful. As soon as she looked to her left and met Joey's eyes however they burst into giggles.

"God, you're like teenagers" Ruby rolled her eyes at them as they tried unsuccessfully to stop laughing.

-Para-

"I'll get it" Cameron called dryly up the stairs as she tromped through the house and towards the front door. As soon as she opened it however she froze in shock at the site that met her eyes "J…Joey? Charlie? What are you doing here?"

"Y'know…" Charlie shrugged with a grin "Just thought we would swing by and see how you're doing and all"

"Oh" Cameron chuckled at the statement despite her shock at seeing them and quickly pulled them both into a tight hug. She pulled back after a moment slightly confused "Where's Ruby?"

"Um…" both Joey and Charlie turned around to see Ruby walking up behind them unsurely.

"Oh" Cameron shook her head when she realised she hadn't stepped away from the door "Come in" she stepped back quickly and the other three girls stepped inside after her "So…What brings you to England? Not that it's not great to see you and all"

"Uh…It's kind of complicated" Joey answered as she nodded inconspicuously towards Ruby.

"Oh" Cameron seemed to understand the gesture and she too looked towards Ruby "Are you okay Rubz? You look kind of…Different?"

Ruby shrugged and smiled weakly "I guess it's been a while"

"Hmnn…" Cameron nodded though she still didn't look convinced "Oh, Summer's upstairs. First door on the left. I would shout to her but she would probably just ignore me"

"Um…" Ruby glanced unsurely at Joey who offered a nod and a smile of support "Okay" she hesitated for a moment longer before she shoved her hands into her pockets and walked towards the stairs.

"What was that about?" Cameron asked in confusion, her gaze flitting between the stairs and Joey who suddenly looked uncomfortable under the stares of both Cameron and Charlie.

"They have some kind of secret" Charlie informed her, not sounding at all happy with the idea "They won't tell me what it is"

Joey shifted awkwardly from foot to foot refusing to meet their gazes "It's not my secret to tell"

"Riiiight" Cameron drawled before she turned and led them into the living room "So what's wrong? I mean…I'm assuming there's something wrong since you're here right now"

"Nothing's wrong, really" Charlie said as she sat tiredly on the couch next to Joey "It's just that…Joey's brother got out of jail so we decided it would be best of we got out of town for a while just in case something happened"

"Oh" Cameron nodded grimly as she recalled her own run ins with Brett.

"Plus" Charlie continued "We decided seeing Summer would be good for Ruby considering her state right now"

"Her state?" Cameron echoed in concern "What do you mean? Is something wrong with her? I mean I can tell that something about her is different…"

"She kind of went off the rails when Summer left" Charlie confided softly "She refused to come out of her room at first, then she started drinking, smoking, hooking up with older guys…"

"Wow" Cameron murmured as she leaned back in her chair "And I thought Summer was bad..."

Suddenly noticing that Joey hadn't spoken for a while both Charlie and Cameron glanced at the girl in question only to see her sitting silently, her guilty gaze fixed on the ground.

"It's the secret thing" Charlie explained as she noticed Cameron's confused look "Whatever the big secret is it's linked to what's wrong with Ruby and…apparently Summer now" despite her frustration at not knowing what was going on she leaned to her right and nudged Joey gently.

"Oh…" Cameron nodded slowly in understanding "Well you guys are staying here, right?"

"We don't want to intrude or anything" Joey spoke up.

"Shut up Jo" Cameron laughed at her friend's statement "You're staying and that's final"

~x~

Ruby swallowed apprehensively and wiped her clammy hands on her jeans as she neared the ajar door in front of her. She stopped when she reached it, her breath catching in her throat when her eyes fell on a familiar form lying on the bed. She hesitated for a moment before she lifted her hand and knocked faintly on the door.

"I told you already Cam" Summer said for what was obviously the fiftieth time "I don't want to talk about it and I don't want to go out so just leave me alone…Please!"

"Sum?" Ruby whispered unsurely.

Summer started slightly at the sound of the familiar voice and sprung into a sitting position on the bed "Ruby…" she blinked rapidly as if she thought she was seeing things "Are you really…"

"Yeah" Ruby nodded faintly as she took another step into the room. As if motivated by the movement Summer jumped up from the bed and rushed across the room, throwing her arms around the other girl in a tight hug that almost lifted her off her feet "Oh My God…Ruby, I missed you so much"

"I…" despite her confusion at the situation Ruby returned the hug just as tightly "I missed you too"

"What are you doing here?" Summer finally asked when they finally pulled away from the embrace "Are Charlie and Joey…"

"Downstairs" Ruby murmured in response before they fell into an awkward silence.

"Summer"

"Ruby"

They chuckled uncomfortably when they both spoke up at the same time and Summer motioned for Ruby to continue.

"Why…Why didn't call me?" Ruby asked vulnerably "Did I do something that freaked you out or…"

"No!" Summer shook her head quickly "You didn't do anything. I lost my phone" she motioned towards where her blackberry lying on her bed. Ruby vaguely remembered that Summer had a Tocco Ultra before she left Summer Bay. "Which isn't really an excuse since I already know your number by heart…I'm sorry. I was just…I was really freaked out by how much I missed you and I thought that if I didn't talk to you and tried not to think about you, I would feel better"

"Did it work?" Ruby questioned hoarsely as she plopped down unceremoniously onto Summer's bed "Did you feel any better?"

"No" Summer responded softly "Nothing worked. I'm sorry Rubz…I know I really screwed up by doing what I did. You know what I'm like. I'm a walking disaster when it comes to relationships; It's practically Naomi Campbell worthy…"

"The model?" Ruby interrupted in confusion.

"No…Sorry" Summer apologised again "Obscure British pop culture reference. I didn't mean to mess everything up I was just so confused and I didn't know what to do so I just did what I usually do and decided that if I ignored it, it would eventually go away but it didn't and it just made everything so much worse and…"

"I missed your rambling" Ruby murmured softly.

"You have to believe me" Summer said pleadingly as she reached out and grabbed both of Ruby's hands in her own "Have I screwed everything up for us? Do you hate me?"

"No" Ruby shook her head honestly "I never hated you. I was just upset…To put it lightly"

"Oh" Summer released a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly "You look kind of different"

"Cameron said the same thing" Ruby chuckled lightly and pulled one of her hands away to rake it through her hair "Maybe it was because I went a bit crazy"

"Crazy?" Summer asked expectantly.

"Yeah…I was kind of a mess when you left and didn't call or anything" Ruby admitted, her cheeks turning slightly pink "I got drunk a couple of times, made out with some guy I didn't really…" she trailed off as she recognised the flash of hurt in Summer's eyes "Um…Like"

"Oh" Summer said as she dropped Ruby's hand "Right. So you didn't answer my question…Why did you come all the way to England? Is something going on?"

"I don't know" Ruby answered still in the process of mentally kicking herself for her previous remark "Charlie and Joey just said we needed a vacation"

"So you're not leaving right away?" the older girl asked hopefully "I mean…You're staying for a while?"

"I think so" Ruby nodded with a small smile before she flopped back onto the bed "I'm really tired right now…"

"So sleep" Summer advised softly "I'm sure you're probably staying here anyway. I mean Cam will sort that out with Charlie and Joey"

Ruby chuckled without opening her eyes "Speaking of Charlie and Joey…You'll never guess what they did on the plane"

"Yeah…I think I can" Summer smirked as she lay on her front on the bed next to Ruby "but I guess you should tell me anyway just in case I'm wrong"

"You're not wrong" Ruby smiled, feeling more content than she had in the last couple of months as she burst into telling the story enthusiastically.

~x~

"Do you think this was a good idea?" Charlie questioned as she snuggled close to Joey on the back step in an attempt to ward off the slight chill of the air "coming here to get away from Brett?"

"Yeah" Joey nodded honestly and dropped a kiss on Charlie's head "I think it was a good idea for all of us to get away from Summer Bay for a while"

"You're probably right" Charlie whispered, barely managing to suppress a yawn.

"Tired?" Joey mumbled sounding slightly drained herself.

"Uh-huh" Charlie nodded against Joey's shoulder "Must be jetlag"

"Me too" Joey whispered "Maybe we should head to bed?"

"Mmmhm…" Charlie nodded slowly and stood up pulling Joey gently with her "Joey?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you" Charlie said sincerely "I just…Wanted to tell you that"

"I love you too" Joey beamed before she pulled Charlie close and kissed her firmly. They pulled away after a moment and walked into the house, their hands lightly entwined.

TBC